CORK LEGEND DEREK KAVANAGH has retired from football after doctors told him that he risked doing irreversible damage to his injured hip if he continued to play on a regular basis.

The 30-year-old had been a member of the Cork senior football panel since 2003, helping the county to a long-overdue All-Ireland Championship in September of last year.

Following the Rebels’ famous victory over Down, the Ballyphehane native announced that he was retiring from the inter-county game with immediate effect but that he hoped to continue playing with club side Nemo Rangers for a few more years.

Earlier this season, Kavanagh won his eighth county title with Nemo though he began to struggle with his fitness as the club progressed towards their recent All-Ireland semi-final clash against St. Brigid’s Roscommon.

In tonight’s Cork Evening Echo, Kavanagh explains that he had little choice but to retire following the advice of medical professionals, saying that “I spoke to the doctor and the surgeon and they’ve completely advised against playing on.”

He als0 revealed the difficulties which he faced as he attempted to keep fit for the duration of Nemo’s All-Ireland campaign.

When we were preparing for [the St Brigid's] game I was really struggling to get through a week of training. I was constantly trying to balance staying fit with giving the hip a break and I was falling way behind as a result.

The winter training just gone was a real struggle and it proved to me that it’s all or nothing. Training in October and November was absolute hell. I was trying to get by week-to-week. I couldn’t go through another year of that.

Read more in the print edition of tonight’s Cork Evening Echo >